Let’s Go to America to Get Married

This blog post begins as we notice that today is the 126th anniversary of the day that Valentine Otto Hoehn married Maria Margaretha Fassold. They were married in 1890 at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg. That is where we begin, but this event takes us on several side trips.

Fassold-Hoehn Marriage Licence

First of all, we see on this license that the pastor who performed the ceremony was Rev. H. Guemmer. He was the pastor of Peace Lutheran from 1886-1912. We mention it here mainly because Gerard Fiehler, a member of our Research Crew, has a daughter-in-law who is a Guemmer.

Next we look at the parents of the bride and groom. Both sets of parents have interesting stories. First we look at the parents of Valentine. They were Adam Hoehn Jr. and Louisa (Hoehn) Hoehn. That’s right, Louisa was a Hoehn Hoehn. A genealogist’s delight. A Hoehn married a Hoehn, and then they gave birth to eleven children to add to the Hoehn horde. To add to our delight, there are also other folks around here from an entirely different family who spell their name Hoehne.

Adam and Louisa (Hoehn) Hoehn

Now we move on to the Fassolds. Maria’s parents were Andreas Fassold and Gertrude (Hafner) Fassold. Both of Maria’s parents traveled to America aboard the Adonis and arrived in New Orleans on June 1, 1854.

Adonis Passenger List

As you can see on the above passenger list, this couple came over before they were married. It did not take them long to get married after they arrived in Perry County. They were married On October 5, 1854 at Peace Lutheran. We have heard stories about difficulties that some German young people had in getting permission to get married in their homeland. Local authorities often had regulations which had to be met before one could get the permits for a wedding. Some required the groom to have proof of a certain income. Some may have required land ownership. If a bride and groom were living in different cities, they may have to get permission from two different towns before they were granted permission to get married. This led to young people who were engaged to be married to make the decision to travel to America to get married. In some cases, it was just easier. It appears that the Fassold/Hafner couple may have been such a case.

Andreas and Gertrude Fassold

All of this leads up to the marriage between Valentine and Maria in 1890.

Valentine and Maria (Fassold) Hoehn

They lived and worked in Perry County and are buried in the Point Rest Cemetery in Menfro.